U.S.: Iran must act, not talk

EXAMINER NEWS SERVICES

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, January 8, 1998

1998-01-08 04:00:00 PDT IRAN; UNITED STATES -- WASHINGTON - The Clinton administration said Thursday it welcomed Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's conciliatory appeal to end two decades of hostility between the United States and Iran, but wants him to back up his remarks with deeds.

In a Wednesday night interview with CNN, Khatami appealed to the U.S. public for an end to the "wall of mistrust" and hostility that has defined Iran's relations with the United States for the past 20 years.

President Clinton "appreciates those positive remarks," White House spokesman Mike McCurry said Thursday, but the prospect for more peaceful relations between the United States and Iran "depends not just on what Iran says but what Iran does."

During the CNN interview, Khatami suggested that the process of conciliation could start with informal contacts, stepping up visits by scholars, journalists, artists and tourists.

Rather than opening a dialogue with the U.S. government, he appeared to have in mind something akin to the U.S. Ping-Pong team visiting China in the years before the thaw in relations with Beijing.

Although lavishing praise on "the American civilization," he said any rapprochement would depend on Washington ending its policy of isolating Tehran, a step he seemed to try to encourage by speaking directly to the U.S. public.

"There must first be a crack in this wall of mistrust to prepare for a change," he said. "Unfortunately, the behavior of the American government in the past, up to this date, has always exacerbated the climate of mistrust, and we do not detect any sign of a change in behavior."

The extraordinary interview, broadcast simultaneously in the United States and Iran, was the most conciliatory statement by an Iranian leader since the Islamic revolution brought a virulently anti-American, fundamentalist regime to power in 1979.

Elected president last spring despite the opposition of Iran's Islamic clergy, Khatami has interjected himself into foreign policy, challenging the hard line taken toward the United States by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Speaking to the people&lt;

So far, the moderate Khatami has limited himself to calling for a dialogue only with the American people, adhering strictly to official Iranian policy against face-to-face talks with the U.S. government.

"We have no need for political ties with the United States," he said, pointedly rejecting U.S. assertions that Iran is seeking nuclear and other dangerous weapons and that it supports terrorist groups.

State Department spokesman James Rubin said government talks are the best way for Washington and Tehran to rebuild their relationship.

The United States, he said, would raise "Iran's support for terrorism, its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and its support for violent opposition to the Middle East peace process."

Asked about those allegations, Khatami said they were the crux of the problem with Washington.

"They first level unfair and unsubstantiated accusations against you," he said. "And when they propose to holds talks, they say that they want to have a dialogue with you about these very unfounded accusations. They are, in fact, trying to put the other side on trial."

Far from being friends&lt;

U.S. officials stress there is a long way to go before relations with Iran reach any sort of normality, given its record of opposing U.S. interests in the Middle East.

"Ultimately, real improvement in the relations between our two countries will depend not on what the government of Iran says but what it does," Rubin said.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, "Iran must change its actions, not just its words. Who could disagree with President Khatami's call for better relations between our countries, his condemnation of terrorism or support of rule of law?"

He said he would not support lifting sanctions against Iran "until we see measurable improvement in the Iranian behavior which brought on those sanctions in the first place."

Some experts on U.S.-Iran relations contend it is unrealistic, after such a long period of hostility, to expect both sides to begin serious talks on substantive issues. In that respect, said Iran scholar R.K. Ramazani, the United States should accept the offer of expanded contacts with Tehran, even if it means Washington's agenda is not immediately addressed.

"You can't simply plunge into talks on weapons of mass destruction when the atmosphere isn't right. We need a break in the psychological sense from treating each other as enemies," said Ramazani, a professor of international relations at the University of Virginia.&lt;